Citing a new report from the U.S. Department of Labor and a corresponding analysis of that report by the American Health Care Association (AHCA), the Texas Health Care Association (THCA) today said Texas’ skilled nursing facility (SNF) sector will continue to be a significant source of new jobs throughout the state, and urged federal lawmakers to ensure funding adequacy as Congress and the President begin shaping the federal budget for the year ahead.

“Meeting Texas seniors’ ongoing care needs as well as sustaining a strong workforce and local jobs base for the future is contingent on adequate Medicaid funding levels from Austin in the face of more possible cuts to Medicare in Washington,” stated Tim Graves, President of THCA. “We urge the President to oppose both Medicare and Medicaid cuts in the FY 2013 federal budget since our profession and the patients we serve have been hit by a barrage of funding cuts and regulatory rulings over the past several years.”

In its most recent jobs report, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that the health care and social assistance sector will gain the most new jobs - 5.6 million of the 20.5 million new jobs the agency predicts will be created between 2010 and 2020. An initial analysis of the report by the AHCA Research Department shows that the top 4 of the 22 major occupational groups flagged for the greatest growth in employment in this decade are in the field of health care—with construction and extraction occupations rounding out the top five growth areas.

Take away the healthcare industry, and the North Texas economy might look like California or another distressed state.
For the past decade, healthcare has been generating most of the job growth in this area, and often the only increases. The trend is similar nationwide, but the rate is faster here, because our population is rising, and Dallas-Fort Worth is drawing more patients and workers from beyond the region.
For all the hype about the exceptional Texas economy, Dallas-Fort Worth actually lost jobs from 2004 to 2009, as the recession deepened. But during the same period, the number of healthcare workers jumped 22 percent, according to a recent report from the Dallas Regional Chamber of Commerce.
My own analysis tracked those results. Tarrant County, which benefited from a natural gas boom, owed almost two-thirds of its private job growth to healthcare from 2001 to 2009. In Dallas County, total private jobs fell 11 percent in the period, while healthcare employment rose 28 percent. In fast-growing Collin County, healthcare jobs doubled in that time.

Anticipating a House budget vote later this week, hospital officials spoke warned of the possible effects of the budget cuts. Here is a press release sent out by the Texas Hospital Association on the subject: